The present invention relates to automatic phone dialing using vehicle navigation system resources. More specifically, the invention provides various methods and apparatus for automatic dialing of phone numbers associated with destinations entered in a vehicle navigation system or addresses entered in a personal digital assistant (xe2x80x9cpdaxe2x80x9d) or other personal address book.
Vehicle navigation systems have become more prevalent in recent times. While vehicle navigation systems have greatly aided in generating the most efficient routing to a destination, unforeseen circumstances such as construction zones, detours, traffic accidents, and traffic congestion often result in travel delays. Many times it is necessary to contact an individual at the destination to advise them of the delay in expected arrival time. Alternately it is often desired to initiate a telephone conversation with individuals at intermediate destinations or with individuals at other destinations or even individuals listed in a personal address book. Vehicles are now commonly equipped with wireless phone capabilities, either in the form of a built in wireless system or through a portable wireless phone carried by one or more occupants.
Presently there is no way to integrate the vehicle navigation system functions with the dialing of the wireless telephone. Contacting a destination requires the phone number to be known to the vehicle occupants, obtained from directory assistance, or obtained manually from other printed or electronic sources. Examples include a printed telephone book, a personal printed address book, a personal digital assistant, or a laptop computer. These methods require significant time and effort in locating the phone numbers. They are especially problematic where the driver is the sole occupant of the vehicle and must either stop the vehicle to look up the phone number or risk impairing his concentration while driving to complete these tasks. What is needed is a device or method which will allow the user to automatically obtain and dial a phone number associated with a destination or address book entry without pulling the vehicle off of the roadway or otherwise interfering with the driving effort.
The present invention provides methods and apparatus for automatically obtaining a telephone number from electronic directories associated with or connected to a vehicle navigation system and transmitting those to a wireless communications device for dialing. In one method of the present invention, a user selects a destination for entry into a vehicle navigation system. The method retrieves the destination from the map database associated, with the vehicle navigation system and determines if there is a phone number associated with that destination. Where the phone number exists, the user is notified by a text message appearing on the display for the vehicle navigation system and given the option of dialing the number. The user selects the dialing option by depressing a soft key associated with that notification. Following selection, the phone number is transmitted to the wireless communications device (typically a telephone) for dialing. In an alternate embodiment, the destination is retrieved from a user""s address book and associated memory is concurrently searched for a phone number for that destination.
The present invention provides computer implemented methods and apparatus for dialing a telephone number using a vehicle navigation system in the following manner. A destination is retrieved in response to selection of the destination by the user. A determination is then made if there is a phone number associated with the destination. Where there is a phone number associated with the destination, a phone number is transmitted to a wireless communications device for dialing.
In another specific embodiment, where there is a phone number associated with the destination, an option for dialing the phone number is communicated to the user. In response to selection of the option by the user, a phone number is transmitted to a wireless communications device for dialing. In another specific embodiment, the destination is stored in a map database associated with the vehicle navigation system. Determining if there is a phone number involves determining if there is a phone number associated with the destination in the map database. In yet another embodiment, the destination is stored in an address book associated with the user, and determining if there is a phone number involves determining if there is a phone number associated with the destination in the address book. In yet another embodiment, the wireless communications device is integral to the vehicle navigation system. According to yet another embodiment, the wireless communications device is separate from the vehicle navigation system.